Miller Theatre at Columbia University opens Season with Maa: A ballet by Kaija Saariaho

Miller Theatre presents the American Premiere of the composer's only ballet, with original choreography by Luca Veggetti and a performance by International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)

Wednesday, September 22 • Friday, September 24 • Saturday, September 25

Tickets: $40 • Students: $25

From Miller Theatre Director Melissa Smey: "I'm excited to bring contemporary ballet back to Miller as we launch the season with a piece I've had on my wish list for a while, and which has never been done in the United States. This opening night production will bring a tremendous wealth of talent to our stage: Luca Veggetti's striking choreography performed by some of Juilliard's finest young dancers, and paired with an electrifying live performance of Saariaho's score by the incomparable International Contemporary Ensemble.

Opening Night

MAA: A BALLET BY KAIJA SAARIAHO

Wednesday, September 22, 8:00PM
Friday, September 24, 8:00PM
Saturday, September 25, 8:00PM
(Click above for more details and audio samples.)

One of the most original compositional voices of our time, Kaija Saariaho is a prominent member of a group of Finnish composers now making a worldwide impact. Her music is at once opulent and mysterious, with dense ever-changing textures, often created by a combination of music and electronics. Evocative and dreamlike, Saariaho's Maa-the composer's only ballet, written in 1991-has been staged just once before. The American premiere at Miller pairs this brilliant but little-known score with beautiful new choreography by Luca Veggetti, original artwork by artist Moe Yoshida, and a performance by some of Juilliard's finest young dancers. International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) returns as the house band, following their "sizzling account" (The New York Times) of Saariaho's music in last year's Composer Portrait.

ARTISTS: Luca Veggetti, choreographer
International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)
Dancers: Craig Black, Frances Chiaverini, Spencer Dickhaus, Min Youg Lee, Viktor Usov, Casia Vengoechea, and Chen Zielinski
Choreography and stage design: Luca Veggetti
Costume design: DeAnna Berg McLean and Luca Veggetti
Lighting design: RodeRick Murray
Original artwork: Moe Yoshida

SPECIAL EVENT: WORKS & PROCESS MAA SNEAK PEEK
Monday, September 20, 7:30PM
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Fifth Avenue at 89th Street

Listen in on an intimate conversation with Maa's composer and choreographer, led by Miller Theatre director Melissa Smey. Featured musicians and dancers will perform excerpts of the program as a preview. A reception with the artists follows in the rotunda of the museum.
Tickets: $30 (212/423-3587 or www.worksandprocess.org)

BIOS: LUCA VEGGETTI was born in Bologna, Italy and trained at La Scala in Milan. After a career as a dancer, Veggetti started an ongoing collaboration with stage director and designer Pier Luigi Pizzi, working in important European theaters and with prestigious musical ensembles. He was the first Italian choreographer in the 20th century to be invited to work with the Kirov Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. In 2004 he was invited by Peter Martins to participate in two sessions of the New York Choreographic Institute creating November steps and Duo. In March of 2007, Works & Process at the Guggenheim presented an evening of three of Veggetti's works set to the music of Toshio Hosokawa, commissioning the world premiere of Night/Sounds. In September of 2008 he directed, designed, and choreographed Iannis Xenakis's Oresteia for Miller Theatre's Opening Night performances, co-produced with Works & Process at the Guggenheim. He has also recently created new pieces for the Ballet of the Rome Opera, Cedar Lake Ballet New York, the Spoleto Festival in Italy and the Milanoltre Festival.

INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE (ICE) is a uniquely structured chamber ensemble comprised of emerging performers and composers who are dedicated to advancing the music of our time. Through innovative programming, multimedia collaborations, commissions by young composers, and performances in nontraditional venues, ICE brings together new music and new audiences. ICE was founded in 2001 and has rapidly established itself as one of the leading new-music ensembles of its generation, winning first prize in the 2005 CMA/ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming and performing over 40 concerts a year in the United States and abroad. A champion of music by emerging composers, ICE has given over 200 world premieres to date and has performed the music of young composers from 15 different countries.

DEAnna Berg MACLEAN first worked with Luca Veggetti as the painter/dyer for the costume department at the New York City Ballet. Previously at Miller Theatre, she made parts of the costumes for Veggetti's Four/Voice in 2007 and created all of the costumes for Oresteia in 2008. Her other recent work includes costumes for Karole Armitage's Three Theories; Liz Gerring's Lichtung/Clearing; John Jasperse's Truth, Revised Histories, Wishful Thinking, and Flat Out Lies; and Alexei Ratmansky's solo for Mikhail Baryshnikov, Valse Fantasie. She created the costumes for Sarah Michelson's Dover Beach, as well as her evening length Dogs at Brooklyn Academy Of Music's Harvey Theatre. MacLean's collaborations with Aszure Barton include Lascilo Perdere and Lamentation Variations. Her work in ballet and modern dance has appeared on the stages of Jacob's Pillow, Sadler's Wells, Walker Arts Center, Edinburgh Festival, Festspielhaus Hellerau, Romaeuropa Festival, and The Venice Biennalle.

RODERick Murray has had a varied career in the performing arts. He has an ongoing collaborative relationship with Luca Veggetti for whom he has designed many world premieres, including the set and lights for Iannis Xenaki's Oresteia at the Miller Theater. Murray's other collaborations include creating the lighting and environments in all of Kimberly Bartosik's choreographic works since 2000 and lighting for Wally Cardona's work since 2001. He received a 2001 "Bessie" award for his work on Cardona's Trance Territory. Murray created the lighting design for Ralph Lemon's How Can You Stay in the House All Day and Not Go Anywhere, Come Home Charley Patton, and his recent Rescuing the Princess. In 2008 Murray was invited to design the lighting for Paul Simon's Songs from the Capeman at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music. His designs for Benjamin Millepied include four premieres at venues in Europe and the Unite States. Murray also collaborates regularly with Dusan Tynek and Melinda Ring and he has designed the lighting for Ballett Dortmund, ABTII, Donna Uchizono, Bill Young, Ricochet Dance, and many others.

Born in Kakogawa, Japan, visual artist MOE YOSHIDA now lives and works in Paris, Bologna, and New York. Having studied at Osaka University of Arts and Bologna's Academy of Fine Arts, she has been featured in solo exhibitions in Galleria42 Contemporaneo in Modena, Italy and at Spazio Sirin in Milan, Italy. Since 2001, she her work has been shown in group exhibitions alongside that of Aurelie Jossen, Rudolf Scindler, Gewolbe Galerie, Biel Switzerland, Mattia Barbieri, Abdelkader Benchamma, Diango Hernandez, and others. Other collaborations include original artwork for the staging of Iannis Xenakis's Oresteia in a marionette version in Central Park as part of World Music Day (2010); the staging of the opera Hanjo for performances in Suntory Hall in Japan and Teatro Astra in Torino, Italy (2009); and the Festival Letteratura in Mantova, Italy (2008). Yoshida has worked with Luca Veggetti previously on a project entitled Sull'orlo del Silenzio, performed at the Japanese Institute of Culture in Rome, Italy and the Festival Exitime in Bologna, Italy.

Columbia University's Miller Theatre is located north of the Main Campus Gate
at 116th St. & Broadway on the ground floor of Dodge Hall.

For tickets, the public should call the Miller Theatre Box Office at 212/854-7799, M-F, 12-6 pm beginning August 23.
Tickets can also be purchased online at www.millertheatre.com.